No big surprises here, considering Mizrachi was supposed to have renovated and reopened the place two years ago. I doubt the city will come through, considering how little historic preservation there is. And I’m not talking about old casinos, either. When I was there in 2006 I had a 1996 guide to historic Las Vegas; 90% of the sites had been torn down.

Sorry to disappoint, but my understanding from Chabad Lubavitch is that they intend to convert the existing structure into a school, not tear down and rebuild. Whether Village stays or not, we’re stuck with the building for a while. Maybe it will look better once windows are carved into it.

The seats and screen are gone, the floor is leveled, and the whole interior is essentially one big room. Also, as the description states, the building itself is an old Quonset hut; except for the marquee, there isn’t a hint that this was ever a theater. It also happens to be functioning as a successful antiques/crafts mall.

A woman who works in the antiques mall said it was called the Loves Park Family Theater, though I can’t verify that.

Just curious, where did you park? You said there was a sidewalk directly to the theater, so I’m guessing you were in the shopping center lot. I’m 99.99% sure the signs on the door, at least a couple of weeks ago, said to park in the Home Depot or the shopping center lot. I’ve never seen anything about parking at Thillens, and that lot is all the way up at Kedzie & Albion, a half mile from the theater!

There is a notice of water service termination posted on the door of one of the stores, and it looks like some interior demolition has begun. Also, the restuarant north of the theater on Spaulding has closed, with some interior demolition going on. Interestingly, the fence around the rear of the property has been removed, and there are a couple of murals (or at least very elaborate graffiti) on the back of the building.

The building was donated to Lubavitch Chabad to be turned into a girls' school; it is not hearsay. See “Movie Theater to Close over Rent Dispute,” Crain’s Chicago Business, 9/4/07. They plan on adapting the existing building.

Crain’s New York reports that the Astoria Theatre was purchased by Skyline Developers. Manhattan-based Skyline, which typically acquires sites for big-box retailers, has no immediate plans to redevlop the site evict the current tenants, but Crain’s predicts there are some plans for the future.